Sunderland will face stiff competition from West Ham and Everton in the race to sign Mousa Dembele before the transfer window shuts, according to footgoal.net. The 28-year-old creative midfielder is out-of-favour at Tottenham and the Black Cats were strongly linked with a move for the Belgian, despite his current side's determination to hold onto him as a squad player. However, if Spurs land a new midfielder, that could spark a bidding war for the ex-Fulham man who could be drawn to West Ham if they launched a bid as he could remain in the capital. This doesn't necessarily mean Sunderland would be out of the running for Dembele though, as Dick Advocaat worked with him at AZ Alkmaar and in the Belgian national team setup. The boss' links to Jeremain Lens helped snare the Dutch international, so if the Black Cats are to make a bid, they'll be hoping for similar results. But while the trio of Premier League outfits circle Dembele, there's no guarantees Spurs and their infamous chairman Daniel Levy would part with their player for anything less than top dollar, if at all, though Sunderland have already dealt with Tottenham for Younes Kaboul earlier in this transfer window.